Highway guard



Dc. 1 1936. y w, s, EDGE 2,062,408

HIGHWAY GUARD Filed Nov. 3o, 1954 4 sheets-sheet 1 o vo l -1:2:- 3 mINVENTOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Y I. m l W Dec. 1, 1936. l w. s EDGE 2,062,408

HIGHWAY GUARD Filed Nov. 30, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR myd@ PatentedVDec. 1, 1936 UNITED STATE s PATENT ori-ical HIGHWAY GUARD 'walter s.Edge, Pittsburgh, Pa.. assignma Pimburgh Steel Company, Pittsburgh, Pa.,a corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 30, 1934, Serial No.'155,388

Somma (ci. 18a-26) My invention is hereinafter described as ex'nployedparticularly in the making of highway guards or safety barriers whichare employed for protection at dangerous points along highways,

but it will be understood that various features of the invention aresuitable also for use in the construction of fences generally.

Heretofore, it has been common practice to employ wooden posts forsupporting barrier eleln ments such as cables or bands, and metal postshave also been employed particularly in fences. The wooden posts vevenwhen treated with' creosote or other preserving materials have been oftoo short life, and in some sections of the coun- One object of myinvention is to provide guard or fence having a metal post of such formg5 that the barrier elements can be conveniently and eifectively mountedthereon. 1

Another object of my invention is to-provide a metal post structure ofsuch form that it will have great strength and be long-lived, without 30employing an excessive amountof metal.-

Another object of my invention is to provide Y a metal post structure intwo parts, one of .which can be driven into the ground, and the other ofwhich can be readily attached thereto at 35 points above the ground.

Another object ,of my invention is to provide a metal post formed inupper and lower sections. either of which may readily be replaced incase of deterioration or damage.

40 Still another object of my inventiony is to provide a metal poststructure of such form -that portions thereof will yield under impacts,thus reducing damage to the post from impacts, and

also reducing danger of the post being displaced 45 in the ground.

A further object of my invention is to provideposts with surfaces ofsuch contour' that shearing action on wire or other bands, throughimpacts against the band, in the vicinity of said 50 posts is reduced. vA

Some of the forms which my invention may take are shown in theaccompanying drawingsvv wherein Figure lis a face view of a portion of ahighway guard; Fig. -2 is Aa. vertical sectional 55 view thereof; Fig. 3is a view taken on 'the line III- III of Fig. 1;` Fig. 4 is a sectionalview,fon an enlarged scale, of a portion of the structure eFigi 1; Fig.l5 is a view taken on the line V--V of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a view taken onthe line VI-VI of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a view s'howing a modi- 5 cation ofthe structure of Fig. 4; Fig.' 8 is a face view of the intermediate postof Fig. 1; on an enlarged scale; Fig. 9 is a view thereof par-- tiallyin side elevation and partially in section; Fig. 10 is a view taken onthe line X-X of Fig. 10 9; Fig. 11'is a side view of the lower sectionof a post, which may be driven intothe ground; Fig.

12 is Aa face view showing a modification of the intermediate post ofFig. 8; Fig. 1,3 is a view taken on the line )H11-XIII of Fig. 1 2; Fig.14'15 shows a modification of the structure of Fig. 1 8; Fig. 15 showsanother means for'fastening thel guard band to a post, and Fig. y16 is amodification of the structure of Fig. '1.

Referring rst to Figs. l to 11, I show a struc- 2d ture which may havean anchoring post IB- at each end of the structure and a suitablenumberof intermediate posts I6, a band or barrier element I'lrbeing secured tosaid.posts, for the purpose of stopping vehicles which leave the highwayalofng which the lguard structure is mounted. The barrier element |11-can be made t of any suitable material, andl be of various forms, but ishere shown as being composed of strand and stay wires of the structureshown in my'Patent No. 1,970,954, issued August v27, 1934. Theintermediate postsV are each composed of a bottom section I8, preferablyin the form of a rolled shape-and an upper section I9 of 'tubular form.I have found that discarded railway track rails are quite suitable aslower post sections, because of their lowcost, and because of theirheavy cross section'and great strength. The bottom section I8 can eitherbe buried in the ground or set in concrete, or may be pointed at 40 itslower end, as shown in Fig. 11, and driven into the ground. The upperpost section vI9 is formed fromy a tube of steel or other suitablemetal, it beingof` suiliciently light gauge that it willyield slightlyunderlheavier impacts. It may suitably have a wall-thickness ofapproxi-- mately .148 inch. -Th'e top of thepost is closed by welding acap 2l thereto or lin some other suitable manner. As shown-more clearlyin Figs. 9 and'10, the- 5o vlower section i8 extends into the tubularsection ance, and is of such diameter that it will have somewhat snug ntwith the head and the base of the section I8, as shown in Fig. 10. A nut23 has a sleeve-like extension that passes through a hole :ln the rearsideo'f the tube I9 and abuts against the head of the section I8.

The bolt 22. also extends through a clamping bar 24 which has teeth thatVlie between the strands of the band I1 and abut against the front sideof the post. 'Iightening of the nut 23 will draw the bar 24 tightlyagainst the post I9 and will hold the post in snug engagement with thebase flanges of the post section I8. The bar 24 also serves to retainthe band I1 in place on the post and permits sliding movements of theband, in order that stresses may be transmitted throughout the fulllength of the band. Near the upper end of the bar 24 a second bolt 25passes through the bar and the post, to assist in holding the bar inplace. The curved contours of the clamping bar 24 and the post I9 attheir front` sides serve to deflect vehicles which strike the guardstructure in the vicinity of the post, thus reducing damage to thevehicles, as well as to the guard structure itself. Also, there is lessdanger of shearing or cutting of the Wire strands by vehicles whichengage the same at the posts.

'I'he anchor posts I5 are composed of lower and upper sections 21 and28, respectively, which are of the same general form as the intermediateposts I6. However, the end posts requirea more rigid support than theintermediate posts, and to this end I nd it preferable to dig holes forthe reception of the lower ends of the anchor posts, and at the lowerends weld thereto cross bars 29 of suitable length, which will resistdisplacement of the posts. Also, I find it desirable to have thesections 21 flt the tubular sections 28 more snugly, and to this end mayuse either further up into the tubes 28 than the sections` I8 extendinto the sections I9. The upper portion of the web of the section 21 maybe cut away to permit the bolt 32 to pass through the middle of the railhead and the rail base.

The strands of the band I1 are clamped at their ends between clampingplates 33 (Figs. 4 and 5). The ends of the strands are arranged invertically-spaced groups, the strands of each group extending into aclamping sleeve 34 and distributed around a tapered clamping pin 35.Owing to the tapered form of the sleeve 34, a pulling force exerted onthe strands will cause them to be wedged tightly between the pin 35 andthe inner Wall of the sleeve, in a manner usual with anchoring devicesof this character.

Bolts 36 extend through the post section 26 and at their inner ends havethreaded engagement with the sleeves 34 that also extend into the post.At their opposite ends, the bolts 36 are provided with nuts wherebytension may be applied to the band I1 by drawing the' sleeves 34 fartherinto the post.

A guy rod 38 of a well-known form is connected to the post through theusual turn buckle 39, and to anl anchor 4I that is imbedded in theground.

. 2,062,408 is preferably extended slightly into the' ground. as

In Fig. 7, I show yieldable tensioning devices for the band, instead ofrigid connections to the posts. In this structure, the anchoring sleeves42 are of substantially the same construction as tare the sleeves 34,and bolts 43 are suitably connected at their inner ends to the sleeves42. However, the nuts 44 of the bolts 43 do not seat against the side ofthe post, butextend through openings therein. The nuts 44 will be madeof suitable axial dimension so that they can be conveniently operated,even though they extend for some distance into the post.

A spring 45 surrounds each bolt 43 and at its one end bears against aspring seat 46 that has engagement with the nut 44. As shown in Fig. 16,if the spring is made of smaller diameter it may seat directly againstthe nut 44, which corresponds to the nut 44, so that the spring can beinserted through one side of the post. At the other end of the spring isa seating member 41 which bears against the inner wall of the post. Theouter faces 48 of the spring seats 46 and 41 are curved to the contourof the inner wall of the post. It will be seen that when a nut 44 isturned inwardly', against the expansive force of the spring 45, theanchor sleeve 42 will be drawn toward the post, thus tightening theband,

. and the tautness of the band will depend upon the extent to which thesprings 45 are depressed by the 'nuts 44. -By this arrangement, the bandmay be maintained suiliciently taut, and there will be less danger ofdisplacement of the end posts, or breaking of parts through temperaturechanges or through impacts against the band.

Referring now to Figs. 12 and 13, I show a structure wherein the bottomsection 5I of a post may be of substantially the same form as thesections I8 and 21, but in this instance, instead of employing a tubularupper section, I bend a sheet metal strip or plate 52 in such manner asto partially surround the section 5I, a cap 53 being provided to keepout water and other foreign matter.

It will be understood that rolled sections oi' other than T form may beemployed. For example, in Fig; 14, I show a post composed of an Hsection 55, and an upper tubular section 56.

Referring now to Fig. 15, I show the band I1 secured to a post 58, bymeans of bolts 58 that extend `through the post and through a bracket orcasting 60. `Springs 6I surround the inner ends of the bolts .and seatagainst the inner face of the bracket 60, and against the nuts 62, thatmay be adjusted, to provide the desired tension. The ends of the wirestrands are held by a clamping device 63 that corresponds to theclamping device 34-35, and screws 64 extend through the bracket 60 andhave threaded engagement with the sleeves of the clamps 63, so'

that one group of strands can be adjusted relative to the other groups,independently of the adjustment ofthe .nuts 62. of the band I1 may besimilarly anchored, al-

though in some cases it may be suillcient to The opposite end tion beingcurved to t the inner wall of the post.

2. Guard structure comprising a metal post having a tubular upperportion, and a lower portion of generally I-beam form partiallyextending into the lower end of the tubular mem' ber, an upperpart ofthe web of the I-beam being cut away, and a fastening member extendingthrough the tubular section and through the said beam and the cut-outspace in the beam. in a direction generally parallel to the plane oi thesaid web.

3. Guard structure comprising a metal post having a tubular upperportion, and a lower por- 15 tion of generally I-beam form partiallyextend- WALTER. s. EDGE.

